Serena advances to quarters on rain-soaked day, Sharapova falls

Posted: Jul 2, 2012 5:00 PM by Andrew Masuda

Serena Williams came through another tough three-set match Monday to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, beating 65th-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-1, 2-6, 7-5.

Williams cruised through the first set in windy conditions before the hard-hitting Shvedova found her rhythm in the second, breaking the American twice to even the match. Williams then wasted three break points at 4-4 in the third before eventually breaking for a 6-5 lead. She clinched the victory with a backhand winner on her first match point.

In her third-round match, Williams won the last set 9-7 against Zheng Jie.

Shvedova, a wild-card entry, became the first woman in the Open Era to win a set without losing a single point in her third-round match against Sara Errani.

Maria Sharapova's bid for a second consecutive Grand Slam title has ended. Sharapova suffered a 6-4, 6-3 loss to Sabine Lisicki,in the fourth round at Wimbledon that will also cost her the No. 1 ranking.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic had little trouble advancing to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, beating fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 underneath the roof on Centre Court. Rain washed out late matches on all other courts at the All England Club.

Roger Federer had to stave off a comeback instead of making one Monday, holding off Xavier Malisse in four sets to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

Federer struggled with a back problem in the first set and left Centre Court for a medical timeout that lasted more than eight minutes while leading 4-3. But he returned to secure a 7-6 (1), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory over the Belgian. Federer said he thought he was in trouble at first but that the back started feeling better as the match went on.

All other men's round of 16 matches were postponed due to the rain. They will be made up on Tuesday, on what was supposed to be an off day for the men.